


Another Teacher

by vandrell



Category: D.Gray-man, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Allen would like to be done with this nonsense, Alternate Universe - Age Changes, Alternate Universe - Crossover, Cross-Posted on FanFiction.Net, Gen, Mission Fic, Post Phantom Thief G arc
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-15
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:02:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,251
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24741991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vandrell/pseuds/vandrell
Summary: Allen Walker has been sent to Hogwarts to figure outjust whyAkuma have been gathering around the school. His cover? The new Muggle Studies professor. But between having to figure out how to teach students about something he barely knows, determining what the Akuma are attracted to, and fending off a nosy High Inquisitor, it might just be too much.  Not to mention his worsening dreams and headaches because of the 14th (and Central's increasing paranoia).---Komui hands over the file in his hands and watches silently as Allen flipped through the papers.“Wait…” Allen stares at the words in front of him, “I’m supposed toteachkids?!”
Relationships: Allen Walker & Timcanpy, Harry Potter & Hermione Granger & Ron Weasley
Comments: 32
Kudos: 135





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So this fic is a long time coming and the result of many, _many_ years of wasting away in my docs. I first started it in 2013 on FFN but I quickly lost steam because of life getting in the way. However, this fic is very important to me and I _do_ want to finish it so here we go. I'm planning on cross-posting it on FFN since there were many people who were invested in it and I did promise to finish it over there. 
> 
> Updates will likely be slow as my muse is being finicky at the moment. I'm maybe halfway through Chapter 2 at the moment but likely won't post that until I get a bit into Chapter 3. I'm hoping to have sort of regular updates but I can't promise anything with the way my writing has been lately.
> 
> I've aged Allen (and the other exorcists though they likely won't appear) up just so that the age difference between him and the Golden Trio isn't weird. I would say he's maybe ~19. This takes place vaguely after the Phantom Thief G arc and before the Third Exorcist arc.

_Early August_

Allen blinks and stares at Timcampy, turning the orders from Komui over in his head. “What about the mission, Komui?”

“We’re sending Krory to take over and the finders will be able to hold down the fort till he gets there.”

Allen glances at Link and the two CROW beside him. He lets out a soft breath and grits his teeth, “Understood. We’ll leave right away. Have I been given permission to open a gate, or are we using the train?”

“Central has approved the use of opening a gate.”

Allen nods, “I’ll go set one up now then.” Turning to Link, Allen says, “Let’s go find an alley.”

They move through the town, peeking into side roads and alleys in an effort to find a sufficiently isolated and empty one. “Walker.”

Allen turns and sees Link standing by a dark alley. He walks over and peeks in, “It’ll do.”

He walks further into the alley and closes his eyes.

_So the little infant fell into a deep sleep._ _  
Among the grey ashes the flames exhibit life force...First one,then two ...  
Making shapes of the profile of your lovely face  
The vast land filled with thousands of dreams, dreams_

Slowly, a shining light appears in front of him. Allen purses his lips as he feels the familiar pang of loneliness and sorrow that accompanies every opening of a gate. The group steps through the gate, easily leading the group to the door that leads to the new Black Order headquarters.

**xxx**

“Allen!” Komui smiles brightly, although Allen notes that it doesn’t reach his eyes and he looks more stressed than usual.

Beside him Krory smiles at Allen as he passes by Allen to enter the Ark, followed by two Finders who ignore Allen. Krory pats Allen’s shoulder and Allen tries to return the smile. Komui loses his smile once Krory disappears into the Ark and motions at Allen and Link. “Follow me, Allen. We’ll go to my office to talk.”

Allen nods and follows Komui through the halls of the Black Order, Link trails after him silently. Allen takes a glance behind him and notes that the two CROW had disappeared at some point. Komui pushes open the door to his office and tenses when a stack of papers fell over. “Never mind that!”

Allen picks slowly through the mess of Komui’s office, trying to not step on any paperwork more than it already had been stepped on. “What’s going on, Komui?” He asks as he sits on the rare bare spot on the couch, Link shadowing him to stand at the back of the couch.

“I have a mission for you.”

“A mission?” Allen glances up and back at Link behind him, “Does Central know? I thought I was only being given missions from Central.”

“They were the one who made the request that it be assigned to you.”

Allen freezes, “What do you mean?”

Komui lets out a small sigh and folds his hands in front of him. “They received a request from Hogwarts, and we agreed that you’d be the best to take the mission on.” He pauses, eyes flicking to Link, before continuing, “I suspect they want you away from headquarters for some reason, but I also think it would be good for you to get away from here for a bit. Central agreed that you will not be accompanied by Inspector Link or any CROW as long as you submit reports weekly.”

Allen looks at Komui incredulously, “They really agreed for me to not be supervised?”

Komui nods, “They said that since there hasn’t been any sign of the 14th till now it is acceptable for you to not be supervised. Though I suspect that your reports will likely be in person.”

Allen stares at the floor, eyes narrowed, “Wait. You said Hogwarts?” He looks up, eyes wide. “The magical school?”

Komui nods, smiling softly, “Indeed. I heard that General Cross taught you some magic while you were his apprentice?”

Ignoring the pang of despair in his chest, Allen snorts, “For some definition of taught. I’m very bad at it, especially without a wand unlike Master Cross.” Allen frowns, “But I lost my wand when I was trying to come here after Master threw me out. I think it got taken by that Inspector.”

“I think we’ll be able to get you a new wand. We won’t need you to do too much magic, based on my understanding. The headmaster of Hogwarts asked for help from an exorcist as he’s noticed a greater number of Akuma gathering around the school and with the school year starting he’s worried some students might be attacked.”

Allen nods, “So he wants us to get rid of Akuma and figure out what bringing them to the school?”

Komui inclines his head.

“Do you think it’s Innocence?”

Komui shakes his head, “No. We routinely send Finders to the school every summer to look for Innocence and we haven’t ever found anything. And we rarely find Innocence near any magic communities, so I doubt that that’s the reason.”

“How are the Akuma normally kept away from the school?”

“The headmaster said that the wards around the school have worked in preventing the stray Akuma they occasionally see from entering the castle until they can get an Exorcist to come.”

Allen furrows his eyebrows in thought before shaking his head. “I have no idea then.”

Komui lets out a soft laugh, “We were all quite stuck on this problem. Which is why we’re sending you there to see if you can figure it out.”

“What are the other details?”

Komui moves the papers on his desk, searching until he found a file. “Here’s background on current news in the Wizarding world, they’ve been experiencing some sort of resurgence of dark magic. But that’s not your concern.” Komui’s eyes hardens, “We only want you to take care of the Akuma. We can’t afford any of our Exorcists getting caught up in their business when we have enough to worry about. Your cover will be as their new ‘Muggle Studies’ professor for the entire year.”

Allen stares. “Year?! You think it’ll take the entire year to figure out what’s going on?”

“I hope it doesn’t, but we will be planning on having you there for the whole year, academic year actually, just in case things don’t progress as planned.”

“And what’s ‘Muggle Studies’?”

“Ah. Muggles are what they call people who cannot use magic. And as you are probably who has the most experience with what they call ‘muggles’, we thought that this would be the best cover for you.”

Komui hands over the file in his hands and watches silently as Allen flipped through the papers.

“Wait…” Allen stares at the words in front of him, “I’m supposed to _teach_ kids?!”

Laughing softly Komui nods, “I don’t think it will be as bad as you are thinking, Allen. The headmaster has offered to give you the lesson plans that previous professors used so you won’t be starting blind.” He pauses, “And from my understanding, the class is usually considered a joke so you will likely be better than anyone else that the headmaster could’ve hired as they normally have no experience with ‘muggles’.”

Allen lets out a sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose, before continuing to look over the background.

**xxx**

_General Background_

_Hogwarts is a school of magic that was founded in the 9 th century by four wizards and witches: Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, Salazar Slytherin, and Rowena Ravenclaw. The school is separated into four houses based on the prominent traits of the students. The House of Hufflepuff takes those with loyalty and with hard-work; the House of Gryffindor takes those with courage and those with bravery; the House of Slytherin takes those with ambition and cunningness; and the House of Ravenclaw takes those with intellect. This segregation of students is believed to be the cause of many of the social problems plaguing the Wizarding world._

_Throughout history, Hogwarts has been home to many famous and infamous witches and wizards. The most recent including the current headmaster of the school, Albus P. W. B. Dumbledore, the infamous serial killer, Lord Voldemort (formerly known as Tom Marvolo Riddle), and student, Harry Potter._

_Harry Potter is rumored to be the bane of Lord Voldemort though a prophecy recited at his birth. Lord Voldemort first rose to power some time from 1960 to 1970. The First Wizarding War begun in 1970 and ended in 1981 when Lord Voldemort met his demise at the hands of child Harry Potter. Lord Voldemort’s body was not recovered at that period of time and it was assumed that he was dead. However, in 1994, during the Triwizard Tournament, Lord Voldemort returned to his body by way of his loyal supporter, Peter Pettigrew._

_Most information courtesy of Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts, consulted once a mission to Hogwarts was determined to be necessary in order to counteract the increasing number of Akuma appearing around the school;_

_As recorded by Senior Finder Renal._

**xxx**

Staring blankly at the information in front of him, Allen looks back up at Komui and asks, “All I have to do is figure out what’s causing Akuma to gather around the school and make sure none of the students get hurt, right?”

A nod.

“Okay. Will I be given more information about the school and this class?”

“Once you finish reading through the information already gathered by the Finders, let me know if you have any other questions and I will contact the headmaster. I believe that the school has a library as well so you should be able to find information there as well if you determine that there is something magical causing the Akuma to gather.”

“Why is there a brief on _this_ kid?” Allen holds up a couple sheets of paper that had ‘Harry Potter’ scrawled across the top in large letters.

Komui scoffs, “The headmaster seemed to believe that the increased number of Akuma might have something to do with him. Though Central and I agree that the Earl likely has better things to do than worry about one boy and an insular Wizarding community.” Komui sighs, “However, we gathered information on him for the sake of calming the headmaster and that way you know what the social and political situation is over there.”

“What do you mean?”

“A Dark Wizard has evidently risen again, according to the headmaster, and is targeting that boy so you might encounter difficulties regarding that.”

**xxx**

_Harry Potter_

_Harry Potter was born in 1980 to James and Lily nee Evans Potter. On Halloween of 1981, Lord Voldemort entered the Potter household and attempted to kill the Potters. Potter was named the ‘Boy-who-lived’ when he survived the attempt. That night he was sent to live with Lily Potter’s sister, brother-in-law, and nephew. He lived in relative anonymity for 11 years until he was reintroduced into the wizarding world by an invitation to attend Hogwarts. In his first year, Potter was involved in a plot involving a magical device called the Philosopher’s stone that could create immortality. The plot was foiled by Potter and two of his friends and the stone was destroyed. In his second year, Potter was led to a hidden chamber in Hogwarts called the Chamber of Secrets where he faced a basilisk. In his third year, Potter was faced with falsely accused, escaped criminal, Sirius Black, also Potter’s godfather. In his fourth year, Potter was forced to enter the wizarding tournament, the Triwizard Tournament, and survived the event that led to Lord Voldemort’s return._

_Harry Potter is known to be a very impulsive individual who doesn’t seem to understand when he should not interfere with others’ affairs. He has the tendency to believe the worst in others when he doesn’t know all of the information and will act on misleading information. He has two friends, named Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley, that seem to occasionally reign in his impulsive tendencies but fail to stop them always._

_I would caution the assigned Exorcist’s actions when it comes to interacting with Harry Potter. It appears that he does not shy away from inquiring about things he should not be concerned with and may jeopardize the mission as well as the known existence of Akuma in the Wizarding world._

_As recorded by Senior Finder Renal._

**xxx**

Allen frowns at the brief from the Finder. “I’ll continue to look through these briefs then and let you know if there’s anything else I’d like information on.” He looks up, “I have a couple of weeks before I’ll be required to go there, right?”

Komui nods, “The headmaster has requested a meeting ahead of time, but that’s been scheduled for next week in London at one of the Wizarding establishments. I believe that would be a good time for you to get a wand, as well as anything else you think you might need.”

Standing, Allen tucks the papers he’d pulled out back into the file and turns to glance at Link. “How does Central want me to report in during this mission?”

“I believe they are still determining the exact protocol for what they want you to do. But I suspect it will be daily reports via golem, one that will be assigned to you, not Timcanpy, and weekly in-person reports to Link or another CROW.”

Allen looks back at Link.

“Inspector Leverrier hasn’t informed me of anything yet.”

Allen lets out a sigh at the usual lack of information from Link but nods, nonetheless. “Do you need anything else from me, Komui?”

“I believe you should have everything I know with you in that file. I’ll contact you once I have more information from Central or Hogwarts. Let me know if there is any other information you’d like to know and I’ll either ask the headmaster or contact the Finder in charge of compiling that brief for you.”

Allen smiles as brightly as he can at Komui as he steps back through the mess of Komui’s office towards the door. “Thank you.” He says as he leaves the office, Link following closely behind as usual.

The duo walks through the halls of the Black Order silently. At one point in time, Allen would’ve been all too willing to try and keep up conversation with Link or saying hello to any of the Finders or Scientists they passed in the halls. But ever since they had announced that Allen hosted the 14th and the incident at the Hearst Orphanage most of the people he’d been friendly with had stopped talking to Allen. Or if they did talk to Allen got very nervous and Allen could tell that they didn’t want anything to do with him.

The other exorcists didn’t seem to mind (excepting Kanda and Chaoji, but Allen didn’t expect anything different from them) and Johnny and Reever were always more than willing to talk to Allen, but Allen couldn’t escape the fear that he’d just change suddenly and all of his friends, and his home, would be _ruined_.

At least with this mission he would be away from the Order for a while and would maybe be able to prevent the Noah-ization process for some more time. And everyone would be safe for at _least_ a few more months.

Allen stares at the door to his room blankly. He had not even noticed them arriving.

Behind him, Link clears his throat, “Walker?”

Allen lets out the tense breath he didn’t know he was holding, “I’m going to the library.” He cannot stand to sit in that room in the dark right now. He turns from his room and continues down the halls of the Order until they reaches the library.

He settles at a table and Link sits across from him, pulling out his own stack of paperwork from somewhere Allen didn’t want to think about. Allen sets the file given to him by Komui on the table and spreads out the briefs. He sets aside the ones he’d already read, and begins to read the next.

**xxx**

_The Current State of Affairs of the Wizarding World and Hogwarts circa 1995_

_Most of the Wizarding World is in an apparent state of denial about the return of Lord Voldemort. After the events of the Triwizard Tournament the Wizarding Government (the Ministry of Magic) prevented information from leaving the grounds of Hogwarts. Those that have heard of his return have either heard through rumors or word-of-mouth from parents or children present that night._

_When news of Lord Voldemort’s return reaches more of the wizarding community, it is doubtless that there will be widespread panic._

_This year (1995) in Hogwarts, it has been reported that a Ministry official will be reporting for the cursed (details not specified or confirmed) Defense against the Dark Arts position. It is speculated by the Headmaster that Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry official, will act to control Hogwarts and its teaching material. The Exorcists assigned to this mission is advised to be cautious when dealing with Umbridge._

_As recorded by Finder Tarn under the Supervision of Senior Finder Renal_

**xxx**

Allen rubs his temple with one hand. Another war. That was something that the Earl would definitely be interested in. But normally the Earl was involved in much larger wars and conflicts. Allen rummages through the briefs, trying to find the typical demographic file always provided. He frowns at the number, it was a much smaller number than the types of numbers they usually saw when the Earl was trying to create more Akuma or was targeting something specific.

Allen sets the brief aside in a separate pile for further consideration and moves on to another brief.

**xxx**

_A Report on the Order of the Phoenix_

_The Order of the Phoenix was present through the First Wizarding War and remains a secretive organization devoted to bringing down Lord Voldemort. Former members of the Order of the Phoenix are included in separately. Many of the original members were killed in the first war and the organization is slowly regaining members._

_The Order of the Phoenix is currently headed by Albus Dumbledore and has several members that are also staff at Hogwarts. Other members also include parents of Hogwarts students, members of the Ministry and the Aurors._

_A spy for the Order of the Phoenix is also rumored to be a part of the Hogwarts staff but this has been unconfirmed by the Order of the Phoenix._

_Written by Senior Finder Renal – Information Courtesy of Headmaster Albus Dumbledore_

**xxx**

Allen frowns at the brief he was reading. The fact that the Finder had included such a seemingly unnecessary brief indicated that they expected trouble. Allen wants to groan. He’d been hoping for a relatively smooth mission that simply required ferreting out what the Akuma were drawn too. But Allen knows that when Finders started including information that had little to no connection to the primary mission there was bound to be ‘interruptions’ that would make his life hard.

_No wonder the file for the mission was so large_. Allen thinks and presses both of his thumbs to his temples as he continued reading.

**xxx**

_On Akuma in the Wizarding World_

_During the First Wizarding War Akuma were created constantly as wizards and witches lived in fear and many died. After the First Wizarding War ended, the creation of Akuma decreased drastically. However, recently an increase of Akuma have been accumulating around the edges of Hogwarts. The causes of the increase of Akuma has yet to be known. It is unsure if there are numerous amounts of deaths that are creating these Akuma or if they are being attracted to Hogwarts by another unknown magical force._

_Mostly Level 1 and 2 Akuma have been spotted. A few Level 3 Akuma have been spotted (this is unconfirmed as it has been only been reported by magical creatures to the Headmaster. No Finders on reconnaissance found traces of Level 3 Akuma). None of the Akuma spotted have made contact with humans and have been keeping outside of a 150 meter radius from Hogwarts. An estimated count of the Akuma was unable to be attained. Approximately 8-10 Akuma were noted to be gathered at one time, though the Levels were unable to be ascertained. Additionally, it is unknown if the Akuma are staying in the Forest around Hogwarts or if they are leaving and returning. More reconnaissance from an Exorcist is required._

_Headmaster Dumbledore has reportedly told representatives of the Order and Central that magic does not work on the Akuma. He also has reported that they have yet to attack any of the students, or be spotted, but that they grow closer to the school with each week._

_As recorded by Senior Finder Renal_

**xxx**

_A mess_. It seemed that Allen would have to do much of the reconnaissance himself in order to determine what exactly was going on. _Usually the Finders were much better at gathering information than this._ Allen frowns again and glances up at Link who seemed to be engrossed in his own paperwork.

Allen was sure that there was something else going on at the school beyond what was provided in the briefs. There were too many unknowns and variables that would have normally been eliminated by Finders long before an Exorcist was sent on the mission. Sighing, Allen hunkers down to finish reading the rest of the briefs. He turns over one of the ones he already read and begins to jot down questions and comments he had for Komui.

**xxx**

_For Komui_

_Why does the Headmaster think this Potter kid is being targeted?_

_I need more information on this Umbridge lady?_

_How does this school work???_

_Do I need to worry about this Phoenix order?_

_Do we have other information on how magic affects Akuma?_

_How good do I need to be at magic?_

**xxx**

Allen frowns at the brightness that he could feel even through his closed eyes. A presence next to him shifts and Allen freezes. Slowly, he opens his eyes and quickly turns, bringing his left arm forward slightly.

Lavi grins brightly at him from where he sits in the next chair, head on his hand as he leans onto the table, face too close to Allen’s.

“Lavi!”

“Allen! What’re you doing?”

Allen stares at Lavi suspiciously. “You didn’t already look?”

Lavi gasps dramatically, “How dare I, Allen?” He snickers, “Especially when you fell asleep on top of all the papers.”

Allen rolls his eyes and hands over the general mission brief after searching through the scattered pile of papers. “Where’s Link?”

“He stepped out for a second and made me promise to not take my eyes off you.” Lavi scans the brief quickly. He makes a soft questioning sound and hands the brief back before leaning back in his chair. “Odd of them to be so willing to send you away for so long after not wanting to let you out of their sight.”

Allen takes the brief back and snorts. “I’m sure there’s something I’m missing about why they want me gone.”

Lavi’s face is blank as he nods. A pause, and then he brightens. “You never told me you could do magic! I thought we were friends.”

“Well its not like I had a wand to do it. I’m not like Master. He can do it without a wand but apparently I have ‘little to no talent at it’ so I have to use a wand in order to do it. And its not like I can actually do anything useful, just basic stuff.”

Lavi nods. Allen can see him mentally filing that information away wherever a Bookman stored that kind of information. Smirking, Lavi leans his chair back and smiles at Allen, “You’ll just have to show me some when you get your wand then.”

Allen opens his mouth to refuse but is interrupted by the steps of Link echoing through the library. Allen closes his mouth and glares at Lavi.

“Walker, I have some paperwork I need you to sign for preparation for the mission.”

Allen sighs and takes the papers that Link offers. There are the usual requisition forms for money, materials, and uniforms that accompanies all missions. There is paperwork that notes that Allen was accepting the mission for the amount of time specified. _Blah blah blah_. “They’re issuing me a standard Golem?” He looks at Link.

“For adequate monitoring by Central. Timcanpy is not properly linked to Central’s monitoring system.”

Allen nods and signs that paper. Lastly there is a detailed schedule that notes when Allen is supposed to report in to Central, both via Golem and CROW. Allen silently reads over the schedule and refrains from groaning out loud when he notices there are daily check-ins via Golem at a certain time, with little leeway, and weekly check-ins with a CROW or Link at a village near the school.

When Komui had mentioned that that might be the case, Allen had hoped that he wouldn’t have to do it. But it seems that Central was not going to be letting up, even when there wasn’t an escort dogging his every move.

Allen signs the last page and hands them back to Link. He gathers the scattered mess of papers that made up his mission file and places them back in the folder. Stretching, he looks at Link and Lavi and asks, “Breakfast?”


	2. Chapter 2

_One week later_

Komui had been able to provide Allen the lesson plans a few days after Allen had received his mission. When Allen first read over it, he’d been dumbfounded. Allen knew that he doesn’t have the most ‘normal’ experience when it came to how he lived before the Order, but even he knows that what they had been teaching was so far beyond wrong, not to mention outdated. As such, Allen spends many hours and days _heavily_ revising the lesson plans to something that seemed more suitable.

He’d also been given the Golem assigned to him by Central and Allen has never been more frustrated in his life (a lie but adequate in describing his feelings). The Golem had taken to staying very close to Allen, so close that Allen couldn’t turn in any direction without catching it in his peripheral vision. It was becoming such an aggravating ordeal that Allen wanted to swat the Golem down and give it a talking to. At least Timcanpy had learned very quickly to stay out of Allen’s peripheral vision if he didn’t want to be accidentally hit.

“Allen?” Komui’s voice startles Allen out of his annoyed musing.

“Yes?”

“Senior Finder Renal is ready to take you to the London meeting place whenever you are ready to depart.”

“Ah, right. I’ll be there in a minute.” Allen grabs his uniform coat from the back of his chair and closes the book _Magic and Innocence_ , taking a moment to shelve it in its proper place. He turns, pausing to point an angry finger at the Golem hovering just next to him, before heading down to where the Gate closest to the meeting spot was located.

Komui and a tall Finder are waiting by the shining Gate. Allen glances at the Finder nervously, noting the downturn of his mouth and stiff posture. Bowing slightly, he holds out a hand to the Finder and says, “I’m Allen.”

The Finder stares at Allen’s outstretched hand for a moment before carefully taking it. “Renal.”

“Great!” Komui interjects, shifting uneasily, “Now that you’ve finally put a face to the person who wrote all of the briefs, you can both set off! Finder Renal knows where the Headmaster would like to meet and he will also be there after the allotted meeting time has passed. If you think that you are going to need more time, let me know through your Golem.” Komui straightens, “Make sure you don’t get taken anywhere without that Golem, otherwise Central is going to assume the worst.”

Allen voices his agreement and gestures for Finder Renal to enter the Gate first.

The two step out onto a dark London street alley and Allen frowns as he glances around. He only had vague memories of actually creating this Gate, but it must have been a memorable enough place at one time for him to be able to place a Gate.

Finder Renal silently begins moving through the alley onto the main street, steadily taking turns and the busy London streets began to meld into residential houses. Allen follows along silently, both Timcanpy and the Golem bobbing behind him higher in the sky to escape attention. Eventually, Finder Renal comes to a stop in front of a row of houses and turns back to Allen. “The Headmaster said to wait here,” he gestures at a lone bench, “and someone will come to fetch you.”

Allen nods and sits slowly.

Finder Renal stares at Allen for a long moment before saying, “I will take my leave then and will return in two hours.”

“Thank you,” Allen says, unsure as the silence stretched longer and longer until the Finder turns and walks back the way they had come.

Allen lets out a brief sigh and leans back into the bench, closing his eyes.

“Mr. Walker?” A voice interrupts.

“Yes?” Allen turns and his next words caught in his throat as he stares at an elderly man with the longest beard he _had ever seen. That couldn’t be practical_. _Unless it was a statement that he was the best…_ “And you are?”

“I’m Albus Dumbledore.”

Allen rises, “Ah. The Headmaster, right?”

The man smiles, “Indeed. Now if you will follow me, we can go inside for a moment and then go retrieve your wand before we sit down to meet and discuss these Akuma.”

Allen nods.

“The Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix may be found at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, London.”

Allen could feel his eyes widen as a house materialized across the street between two other houses. He had known that magic could do some amazing things, but it had been such a long time since he had seen conventional magic as compared to the spells his Master preferred.

Headmaster Dumbledore lets out a chuckle before extending a hand towards the house, “After you.”

Allen walks towards the house and pauses for a moment as he passes what must have been a barrier of some kind as he could feel his left arm tingle slightly. Turning back to the Headmaster, he asks, “Are there wards on this house too?”

Dumbledore nods and asks, “How did you know?”

“Are they the same wards that are around Hogwarts?”

Dumbledore motions for them to continue into the house before replying, “The wards around Hogwarts are much older and more thorough than the ones placed around Grimmauld Place.” Allen steps into the house. “Grimmauld Place is more protected by nature of the Fidelius Charm than its wards as it used to be the residence of the Blacks, still is I suppose, and this level of protection was not necessary then.”

Dumbledore closes the door behind him and Allen lifts an eyebrow at the hallway they were standing in. It was, _somehow_ , more gruesome than the decorations he had in his room. An observation he thinks Lavi would find very amusing. “The Fidelius Charm is what prevented me from seeing this house before you said that phrase?”

“Indeed. Now if you’ll follow me into the drawing room, I’ll have us taken to Ollivander’s so you can get that wand you will need.”

Allen lets Dumbledore pass by him and lead the way up the stairs at the end of the hall and into a large room with a fireplace.

“We will be using Floo Powder to get to Ollivander’s. Have you used it before?”

Allen wracks his brain as he tries to drudge up old memories. “I believe so, but you should show me as it has been a long time.”

Dumbledore nods and steps towards the fireplace. He grabs some powder from a box on the mantle and throws it into the fireplace. The fire turned green and then he clearly enunciates, “Ollivander’s Wand Shop, Diagon Alley.”

The fire flares and then the Headmaster was gone. Allen purses his lips in concentration and turns to the two Golems behind him. “You better stay behind Timcanpy. Keep watch and let me know if you see anything happening.”

Timcampy bobs up and down.

“And you,” Allen turns to the Central Golem, “you better stick close and hold on if you don’t want to be left behind.”

Taking a handful of the powder, Allen also throws it into the fireplace and inhales deeply before stepping into the fire. Frowning at the uncomfortable warmth licking at him, Allen takes hold of the Golem and says, “Ollivander’s Wand Shop, Diagon Alley.”

An uncomfortable tug pulls at Allen’s navel and he closes his eyes at the vaguely familiar feeling of hurtling through the Floo Network. Allen flinches at the abrupt stop and he opens his eyes, stepping out into what must be Ollivander’s Wand Shop.

“You made it!” An unknown voice exclaims.

Allen turns and bows shallowly at the old man who had enthusiastically greeted him. Headmaster Dumbledore lingers behind the old man, hands clasped. “Allen Walker.” He offers.

“Garrick Ollivander. Professor Dumbledore was just telling me that you needed a wand. A bit old for your first one, don’t you think?” Ollivander leads him into the back of the store where boxes upon boxes line the walls. 

Allen peers at the boxes and their labels curiously. “I thought wands were made to specifically match the wizard?”

Ollivander shoots Allen a surprised glance. “That’s how it used to be done many years ago, but now it’s not feasible to do that for every wizard or witch that passes through my doors since,” he shoots Dumbledore a glance and laughs softly, “the number of wizards and witches who enter Hogwarts seems to be increasing every year.”

Dumbledore inclines his head in agreement.

Allen nods.

Ollivander points at the center of the floor and Allen moves to stand there awkwardly. Ollivander pulls out his wand and asks, “Your wand arm?”

“Wand arm?”

“Your dominant arm.”

“Ah, I’m ambidextrous.”

“That’s unusual!” Ollivander looks simultaneously impressed and also a little like Komui when he wants to stick Allen under a microscope, “Well then, whichever arm you’d like to use your wand with.”

Allen immediately holds out his right arm.

Ollivander flicks his wand and a measuring tape flies towards Allen. Surprised, Allen flinches and steps back, tensing and lowering his arm. “Don’t worry Mr. Walker. Just have to take a few measurements so that we can narrow down the selection.”

Staring at the floating measuring tape suspiciously, Allen nods and relaxes minutely.

The measuring tape takes seemingly meaningless measurements that Allen can’t make heads or tails of but Ollivander is nodding his head at the floating piece of parchment in front of him so Allen supposes it is going well. “There we go!” Ollivander says brightly, “Now we’ll start trying some wands.”

With another flick of his wand, Ollivander summons several boxes that float from their spots in the walls. Ollivander pulls out the first wand from the box and holds it out in front of Allen. Allen stares at him blankly, confused.

“Well go on, take it!”

Allen lifts a brow but takes the wand and holds it loosely.

“Hold it like you mean it, young man, and give it a swish.”

Sighing internally, Allen grips the wand more tightly and moves it awkwardly in front of him. Almost immediately, Ollivander snatches it from his hand and replaces it. “Not that one.”

Allen gives the next wand another movement and lets out a pained yelp when it grows uncomfortably hot in his hand.

“Not that one either I guess!” Ollivander replaces the wand again.

The process continues for a few minutes, the wands in Allen’s hands either shooting violent sparks or making a menace of themselves. At last, Ollivander places a rather long wand in Allen’s hand and he gives it another, rather lackluster, swish.

Nothing happens for a long minute until the wand shoots green sparks that look reminiscent of Innocence. Allen stares at it in wonder and looks back at Ollivander.

The wandmaker is beaming delightedly at Allen, “And there we go! That one’s wood is Ash and the core is a hair from a rather old Unicorn. Very flexible and a nice 10”. It’ll work with you quite nicely I believe.”

Allen nods, looking back at the wand for a moment before turning back to Ollivander and asking, “How much do I owe you?”

“Eight galleons,” He responds easily, “but for that one I’ll give it to you for six. I’ve had it for quite some time and haven’t been able to match it with any Witches or Wizards so I’m quite happy to give to you.”

Allen nods and rummages through his uniform pockets, fumbling with where to put his wand before deciding to just stick it in his pocket, and retrieving the small bag that Komui had shoved at him before they’d left the Order. He carefully withdraws eight galleons, thankful that he at least remembered how Wizarding currency worked (no thanks to his Master who had continued to shove his, now wizarding, debts at Allen to pay a long time ago).

Bowing as he passes the money over to Ollivander, Allen asks, “Would it be possible to obtain a receipt from you?” At the confused look from Ollivander Allen continues, “My supervisors require me to itemize any spending I have done and receipts make it much easier to do so.” _Though for me it’s more to ensure that I’m not wasting the Order’s money like Master did before they realized what he was doing_.

Ollivander nods and summons another piece of parchment which clearly has the date, making of the wand, and price listed. Allen takes the parchment with a bow and a “Thank you” before folding it up and slipping it into his pocket. Dumbledore slips forward from where he’d been unobtrusively standing and also thanks Ollivander. The two walk back towards the fireplace in silence with a silent Ollivander trailing behind them.

“We’ll head back to headquarters now,” Dumbledore turns to Ollivander who is hovering, “My apologies, Garrick, but I’ll have to ask you to leave us.”

Ollivander shifts on his feet but nods and disappears into the back of the shop.

“What was that about?” Allen asks.

Dumbledore glances at Allen, “As Secret Keeper for the Order, I cannot allow for anyone who is not _part_ of the Order to know the location of 12 Grimmauld place. And while I do trust Garrick, he does not wish to be part of the Order and so I cannot let him overhear us.”

Allen nods, “Back to your Headquarters then?”

Dumbledore smiles and picks up a handful of Floo powder from the mantle and tosses it into the fire. He steps into the green fire and is whisked away. Allen sighs at the soot that covers the fireplace and thanks the Order for having black uniforms. He throws some Floo powder into the fire and gestures for the Golem that had immediately flown into one corner of the shop to record to come back over to him. Taking hold of the Golem firmly, Allen steps into the fireplace and states, “12 Grimmauld Place.”

Allen closes his eyes at the tug and tightens his grip on the squirming Golem. He’s hurtled through _something_ and then almost immediately comes to a jarring stop. Gritting his teeth at the feeling and thanking the fact that the Gate makes travel so much better than _this_ , Allen opens his eyes and lets go of the Golem. It immediately flies away, shaking soot off. Dumbledore is waiting for him in front of the fireplace and Allen steps out of the fireplace, attempting to dust off the soot on his uniform.

“Ah, Mr. Walker,” Dumbledore lifts his wand and Allen narrows his eyes in suspicion, “I can fix that for you if you should like? I forget that Garrick does not typically keep his fireplace clean as he only receives the rare visitor through the Floo.”

Allen glances between Dumbledore’s wand and the Headmaster himself carefully. He opens his mouth to agree before realizing, “Could you remind me of the incantation for the spell? I suppose I should get back into habit of using some spells to maintain my cover.”

“ _Scourgify_.” The Headmaster offers.

Allen pulls his own wand out of his pocket and turns it back on himself. Letting out a calming breath, Allen slowly says, “ _Scourgify_.”

For a second, nothing happens. And then Allen can feel his uniform begin to _move_. Soot visibly removes itself from his uniform before vanishing into thin air. “I forgot how _weird_ magic was.” Allen states blankly.

Dumbledore lets out loud laughter, “That it is my boy. It must have been quite some time since you’ve used it for you to be this out of practice.”

Allen glances at him from the corner of his eye and wonders how much Komui actually told the Headmaster. “Something like that.” He agrees noncommittally. “You were saying something earlier about speaking about the Akuma?”

Dumbledore nods, “Let’s go to the kitchen if you don’t mind.” He raises his voice slightly, “I’m afraid we’ll be overheard if we speak in here.”

Allen frowns. “Of course.” He follows Dumbledore out of the room and back down the stairs. Allen pauses on the staircase, a stair creaking beneath him, as he hears the scrabbling of multiple feet from further up the stairs.

In front of Allen, Dumbledore continues to walk down the stairs. When the Headmaster notices Allen is no longer following but is paused in the middle of the staircase with his head cocked, he chuckles. “Ah. I see you’ve noticed the children.”

Allen focuses on Dumbledore, “Children?”

“Yes, follow me and I’ll explain.” Dumbledore continues down the steps and, after taking a glance back up the stairs where there was only silence, Allen follows.

Dumbledore leads Allen into a room that can only be the kitchen that has a large table that makes the room feel more cramped than it probably really is. The older man takes a seat and motions for Allen to sit next to him. Allen takes a seat after a pause and tilts his head at the two golems following him.

Immediately, Timcanpy flies to the corner of the room and bobs in place as he begins recording. Central’s golem, on the other hand, takes a few more minutes to understand his meaning and scurries to follow Tim. Allen watches it go and decides he needs to take a few minutes to explain that it should just follow Tim’s lead from now on.

Allen drops his eyes to Dumbledore and smiles tightly. “If you don’t mind?”

Dumbledore turns his head to glance at the two golems before turning back to Allen, “Of course. I’ve head about those fascinating creatures but I’ve never had the chance to see them in action before.” He trails off, clearly trying to invite Allen to explain.

“They’re interesting indeed. But you were going to explain about the Akuma?”

Dumbledore chuckles. “Of course. I explained a lot to your Finder, was it?” Allen nods. “Was there anything in particular that you wanted to know?”

“Why don’t we start with the wards around your school that prevent the Akuma from entering?”

“Ah yes. They’re quite old and my predecessor had not been able to quite explain _which_ ward was keeping the Akuma out. From what I’ve been able to determine, it’s an old ward that had been placed by the Founders of the school. Something rooted in ley lines to my knowledge.”

_So the sum up_ , Allen thinks sardonically, _you have no idea_. “And they’ve not lost their efficacy?”

“As far as we’ve been able to determine, no. However, they do not prevent these Akuma from gathering in the Forbidden Forest. And unfortunately we have students who like to ignore our rules.”

“Have students encountered the Akuma before?”

“No. The centaurs and our groundskeeper have been able to escort students away if there’d been an Akuma sighted nearby. Thankfully there have been no incidents but with the increasing numbers of Akuma that the centaurs have reported I worry that it’s only a matter of time.”

“Have you changed anything recently that would cause the Akuma to flock to the castle?”

Dumbledore sighs and he loses the twinkle in his eye, finally looking his age. “There’s nothing that I’ve been able to think of that would cause the change.”

“When did you first notice?”

“We didn’t get our first reports of the increasing numbers until summer. But we don’t know if it could have increased before then.”

Allen hums thoughtfully. “Would you be able to provide me with any of the recent reports you received about the Akuma?’

“The centaurs only inform me in person unfortunately.” Dumbledore strokes his beard thoughtfully, “But I might have some letters that give precise dates.”

Allen nods, “Anything will help.”

“I will endeavor to do my best. What else?”

“I noticed the Finders included many reports on someone named ‘Harry Potter’? Is there a particular reason that you think he is involved?”

“Ah, young Mr. Potter.” Dumbledore leans forward. “Unfortunately, Mr. Potter is someone who seems to attract trouble. He’s been targeted by Lord Voldemort since birth and I fear that nothing would stop Lord Voldemort from trying to kill Mr. Potter.”

“Why do you think the Akuma are involved?” Allen wants to wait before he shares his doubts about the Millenium Earl’s involvement.

Dumbledore laughs wryly, “It seems, unfortunately, that any time anything happens in recent years, it is in some way connected to young Mr. Potter.”

Allen lifts an eyebrow questioningly and nods for Dumbledore to continue. “What do you mean?”

“We always seem to find Mr. Potter in trouble every year and I have a bad feeling that this might be that, once again.”

Allen nods, disbelieving, but willing to give Dumbledore the benefit of the doubt. “And can I talk to him? To see what he knows?”

Dumbledore waves a dismissing hand. “Mr. Potter never seems to willingly, for the most part, want to be in these situations. He doesn’t actually know anything that would help.”

Allen frowns. It didn’t seem as if Dumbledore _wanted_ him to talk to Harry Potter…intriguing. “Where is he?”

A pause of deep thought. “He’s here.”

Allen jerks.

“There was an incident earlier that required him to be removed from his Aunt and Uncle’s care. He’s been living here for the time being.”

“So I should be able to easily speak with him then.”

Dumbledore’s lines deepen in annoyance. “Yes. But I will have to ask that someone accompany him if he agrees to speak with you. He is a minor after all.”

Allen wants to laugh. There’s something _odd_ about the tenseness in Dumbledore’s words and he doesn’t like it. “That’s acceptable.” He glances out the window and notes the still dark sky. “Do you have the time?”

Reaching into his robes, Dumbledore pulls out an old-fashioned pocket watch and opens it. “Almost a quarter to midnight.”

“Thank you. Is there any other information that you can give me regarding this class?”

“Ah yes, your Supervisor mentioned that you had questions regarding that.” He pulls his wand from his sleeve and waves it. A pile of papers fall out of the air and flump onto table. Dumbledore pushes them towards Allen.

Allen pulls them towards him and begins to read. They’re letters from someone named Charity Burbage. Allen flips to the next page and notices that they are notes on the lesson plans he’d received earlier.

Slowly, Allen methodically flips through the pages and groans at the increased number of things he will have to go through. He looks up and is about to thank Dumbledore when there’s loud thumping down the stairs.

The kitchen door slams open and a man with shaggy black hair enters the room purposefully, pausing when he notices the pair sitting at the table looking at him.

“Who are you?” He asks suspiciously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was able to finish this chapter fairly quickly-ish ~~which was due to having it more than half way completed but shhhh~~. Next chapter seems like it'll take a bit more time but my summer classes finish next week so hopefully I'll have more time to work on _all_ my WIPs. 
> 
> I barely edited it, so if there are any typos or mistakes please let me know! 
> 
> /vandrell


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Negotiating, debrief, and Lavi.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Got this done in time for [Cher's](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CherFleur) birthday!

“Ah, Sirius.” Dumbledore says, standing. “This is Mr. Walker. Hogwarts’ new Muggle Studies professor.”

“What is he doing here?” The man, Sirius, asks belligerently.

“He’ll helping with an additional problem that’s arisen.” Dumbledore smoothly says.

Sirius narrows his eyes and Allen watches as he visibly grows angrier then forces himself to calm before asking. “What problem?”

Dumbledore stands, looking at his watch once again. “Nothing to worry about Sirius. Did you need something from me?”

Allen watches as Sirius, who he now realizes is Harry Potter’s convict godfather, stares at Dumbledore with an irritated expression. “I was just getting some water for Remus.” He turns to Allen and extends a hand. “Sirius Black.”

Standing, Allen takes his hand and shakes it. “You’re Harry Potter’s godfather, correct?”

Black frowns, withdrawing his hand, “What do you want from him?”

“Headmaster Dumbledore seems to think that the problem I’m being asked to take care of might relate to your godson, and I would like to eliminate him as a variable beforehand if possible. The headmaster has asked that if I talk to Potter there be a guardian with him. Which would be you, correct?”

Black’s eyes flick between Allen and Dumbledore before lingering on Dumbledore. Allen turns his head slightly to watch Dumbledore quickly mask an annoyed expression out of the corner of his eye. He doesn’t know _why_ Dumbledore seems to want to keep Harry Potter in the dark but it reeks of manipulation and reminds him of Central and Leverrier.

“Yes, that’s me. What do you want to speak with him about?”

Dumbledore quickly interjects before Allen can start explaining what Akuma are. He’s never had a problem telling people about Akuma and how to protect themselves, but Central has always hated him for it. However, Allen refuses to not give people information that they can use to protect themselves from even more heartbreak. “Unfortunately, Mr. Walker, it seems as if your Finder is lingering on the edges of the wards waiting for you. I think it would be prudent for you to leave now and we can set up a later time for you to speak with Mr. Potter before the school year starts. I can speak to Sirius.”

Allen nods after glancing at Tim who bobs up and down in agreement about Finder Renal. Black follows his gaze and his mouth drops as he catches sight of the two golems, “What are those?”

“They’re golems.” Allen says as Dumbledore maneuvers him out of the kitchen and towards the front door. Tim and the Central Golem follow along with Black who is staring in awe at the two. “They’re machines, mostly.” He’s not entirely sure _what_ Tim is made of, but the Central golem is definitely mechanical.

Black is still staring at them as the reach the front door.

“Well then, Mr. Walker. It was a pleasure to meet you. I will reach out to Supervisor Komui regarding when you can meet with Harry if that’s acceptable?” Dumbledore asks.

Allen nods and opens the door. Finder Renal is sitting on the bench that Allen had been on, just hours earlier, looking impatient. “I will reach out with further questions between now and then, if I have them.”

Another nod and then Allen steps out of the doorway. The door quickly shuts behind him and he can hear the angry whisper of voices arguing. Shaking his head, Allen continues down the stoop and walks towards Finder Renal. It takes until he’s a significant distance from the house for Finder Renal to notice him and Allen supposes that it’s due to the wards on the house.

“You’re cutting it a little close.” Finder Renal observes dryly.

Allen grimaces. “There was an unforeseen intrusion that interrupted.”

The Finder nods before standing silently and starting their walk back to the Gate.

Allen follows silently, lost in thought and trying to organize what he’d learned from today’s meeting. There had been several things that had set off alarm bells in Allen’s head today but most of all, the fact that no one seems to know what’s going on with the Akuma. Allen sighs as he mentally resigns himself to having to do a lot of the investigative work around this mission. Usually by the time any Exorcist was assigned to a mission the Finders had already done the bulk of the investigating and the Exorcists were mostly needed to kill the Akuma and retrieve the Innocence.

He hadn’t done a mission like this since probably before he joined the Order. That period of time when he was travelling with Master Cross. And things were simultaneously so much better than they were now but also so much lonelier.

**xxx**

Komui and Reever are both waiting outside the Gate, speaking softly to each other. Allen fights down an exhausted sigh and smiles weakly at them. It seems like the days go on and stretch longer and longer, and Allen only gets more tired. And he’s no longer sure if it’s the weight of the suspicion and accusations or if its the 14th, slowly clawing at his mind and degrading his control.

His mask no longer fits as securely as it once did and Allen wishes, _wishes_ sometimes that it was just him and Master Cross travelling the world once again.

“Hello Allen.” Komui greets. He nods at Reever who is reorganizing the papers in the folder in his hands.

“Allen.” Reever says, with a little more energy than Komui and Allen seem to have. “Let me know if you want anything from us before you leave on your mission.”

“Thank you Reever.” Allen smiles, a little more sincerely than before.

Reever nods goodbye to Komui and then walks off. The two wait in silence as he leaves and then Komui turns to Allen. “How was your meeting?”

Allen looks at Komui for a few seconds before saying, “Informational.”

Komui chuckles wryly, “As meetings with Headmaster Dumbledore tends to go. Why don’t you come to my office and we can figure it out,” he pauses, “hopefully.”

Allen nods and they walk towards Komui’s office. Halfway through their walk, Komui looks at Allen with a pained look. “I should warn you. Inspector Leverrier and Link are waiting to hear from you as well. I didn’t want to corner you right after you came back but Leverrier insisted.”

Fighting to keep his grimace off his face, Allen nods, “I figured it was something like that.”

“Sorry.” Komui says, and they keep walking in silence.

Komui opens the door to his office and walks in, Allen following behind him.

Leverrier is sitting in the normal chair that he does, looking as if Komui’s office is his own. Allen pushes down his anger and revulsion and nods a tense greeting to Leverrier and Link who is standing behind him.

“Ah, Walker.” Leverrier places his teacup on its saucer, “Have a seat and tell us about your meeting.”

Allen stiffly sits on the couch, as far as possible from Leverrier and Komui takes his seat behind his desk.

“Well?” Leverrier prompts.

“Headmaster Dumbledore first took me to a wand shop to get a wand.” He pulls the receipt he’d received from Ollivander and hands it to Komui before pulling out the wand in his pocket and showing it to Komui.

“May I?” Komui asks, a glint in his eye.

Allen stares at Komui suspiciously, “You’re not going to try and take it apart, are you?”

“Well, when you put it that way, I suppose I should probably not.”

“I’d like to see it.” Leverrier interjects and Allen ignores the slither of fear down his back.

He hands the wand to Leverrier and watches as the Inspector looks it over carefully with a critical eye. Leverrier lets out a small inscrutable sound and hands the wand back to Allen. He takes it and puts it back in his pocket, unsure of what Leverrier gathered from his wand.

Steeling himself, Allen continues, “The Headmaster and I spoke in what seems like their Headquarters for the Order of the Phoenix. However, it seems to be a residence with other people living there. I believe the Harry Potter, and his godfather Sirius Black, along with a number of other unidentified people whose identities I am unsure of.”

Leverrier frowns but nods for Allen to continue.

“The Headmaster stated that the wards around Hogwarts are old and that they are unsure which ward actually seems to repel the Akuma. He also said that the wards, to his knowledge, had not lost their efficacy in the prior years. They are unsure as to when exactly the Akuma numbers started increasing but the first report they received was in the summer from the centaurs living in the forest. Unfortunately, from what I can gather, those reports were primarily verbal and not detailed. The Headmaster said that he’d try to see if he had any written reports to give to help but I have doubts that there will be anything useful.”

“Of course,” Leverrier narrows his eyes, “the wizards have never been good at organization and proper protocol.”

Allen bites down a snarl and turns back to Komui to continue. “The Headmaster seemed to be very fixated that the increasing number of Akuma are due to Harry Potter’s presence at the school. He seems to imply that its due to Lord Voldemort trying to _get_ to Harry Potter.”

Komui hums. “And what’s your impression, Allen?”

“I don’t think there’s much merit to that idea. The Wizarding World doesn’t seem to be something that the Earl has been concerned with in the past and I can’t imagine that the Earl would be so focused on one boy.”

“What if the Earl is working with that Lord Voldemort?” Leverrier asks.

“The Earl has never worked with anyone other than the other Noahs before. And if he did it was through manipulation.” Allen swallows at the thoughtful stare that Leverrier is now leveling him. “I can’t imagine that the Earl would consider the British Wizarding World to be a big enough and worthwhile target.”

“Perhaps.” Leverrier simply says. Allen waits for him to continue and when he doesn’t seem to Allen continues.

“For the sake of covering all our bases though, I asked to speak to Potter. The Headmaster seemed very reluctant to let me speak to Potter without a guardian, seemingly angling to be that guardian himself. However, there was an encounter with Sirius Black, who is Potter’s godfather, and there is a tentative plan in place for me to speak with Potter with Black present. I believe that the Headmaster will be reaching out to you soon with a date and if he doesn’t within a few days I think you should reach out to him.”

Komui nods, “You think that he’ll try to get out of the meeting?”

“I think he doesn’t want anyone talking to Potter for some reason.”

“Very well.” Leverrier says, “Did the Golem work adequately in the presence of all the magic?”

Allen bites down his immediate desire to ask, _I’m sure you already know and were monitoring the situation the whole time_ , and says, “I believe so. It was able to come with me through the Floo as well.”

“Floo?”

Turning to Komui, “It’s one of their long-distance travel networks that works through fireplaces.”

“Fireplaces?” Komui looks scandalized and Allen fights down his urge to laugh. When Komui had first learned that Allen had learned magic from Cross, he’d been simultaneously intrigued and horrified because he hates the impracticalities and lack of proper rules that magic seems to have.

“I’ll see if I can find a book for you.” Allen turns back to Leverrier and says, “From what I can tell, the Golem worked fine.”

“Good. We had to make some adjustments to make the Golem as magic-resistant in order to adequately work.”

Allen turns back to Komui, “I also received some additional information for the class that I am supposed to be teaching.”

“I think that you shouldn’t worry too much about the class being ‘good’ and focus on figuring out why the Akuma are gathering there.”

“Well, there’s not currently much else that I can do now. Until I get to the school at least.”

“How’s your magic coming along?” Leverrier asks.

“I’m out of practice.” Allen says flatly. “But I believe I should be able to remember some of the tricks and spells that I was thought.” He refrains from saying Cross’s name, sure that the pinched look that Leverrier always has at the thought of his Master would return.

“See that you do.” Leverrier stands. “Then, if there is nothing else, I will speak to you before you set out for Hogwarts.” He pauses at the door, “Ensure that you try to wrap this situation as quickly as possible and do not embarrass the Order.”

Allen flinches.

Leverrier leaves the room.

Komui lets out a shaky sigh then cuts it off when Link moves from where he’d been standing, still as a statue. Link nods curtly, “I will see you in the morning then, Walker, with additional debriefing materials.”

“Okay.” Allen says and watches as Link steps out of the office. This was probably the first time that Link had left first.

The door shuts behind Link and Allen turns to Komui.

“Well.” Komui massages the bridge of his nose after takin off his glasses, “That was as delightful as those meetings usually are.”

Allen presses his lips together. “Yeah.”

“Why don’t you head to bed then, Allen?” Komui releases the bridge of his nose and looks at Allen over his clasped hands. “There’s not much else you should do today. And you’ll probably need the energy for tomorrow.” He laughs shortly, “I think that Lavi has been very excited for you to return so he can watch you doing magic.”

Allen laughs.

**xxx**

_A few days later_

Allen tries to refrain from trying to bang his head against the wall when there’s an excited knock at his door at time that’s too early for him to be awake, considering his late night.

“Alleennn~” Lavi’s voice drifts through the door. “Up and at ‘em, Beansprout!”

Allen considers suffocating himself with his pillow. Maybe then he could escape from Lavi’s curious clutches. But, on second thought, Lavi would probably find a way to raise him from the dead like Master Cross did with Maria, but sentient. And _that_ sounds entirely awful.

“Alleeeeen~”

Allen can just imagine the falsely innocent face that Lavi must have on now.

“Allen.” Lavi’s voice clearly conveys his pout through the door. “If you don’t open up I’m breaking in.”

Groaning loudly so that Lavi can hear it, Allen sits up and calls, “What do you want, Lavi?”

There’s excited shifting from the other side of the door. “What do _I_ want? Come on Beansprout! You know exactly what I want. I’ve been waiting for this day for too long!”

Allen sighs. “Fine. Fine. Give me at least a couple minutes to fully wake up.”

A muted cheer drifts through the door and Allen wishes that he could just go back to sleep. “I’ll see you in the library in 5 minutes!” Footsteps echo down the hall before pausing and coming back to stand in front of the door again. “You only get 5 minutes, Beanspout! Any longer and I’m coming to hunt you down.”

“ _Fine_.” Allen lifts the covers and waits till Lavi’s footsteps have left the hallway (he hopes) before heading to the bathroom.

Thankfully, the bathroom is empty, likely due to the absurdly early morning hour, which allows for Allen to enjoy some peace, quiet, and freedom from scrutiny. He quickly washes up and brushes his teeth, ignoring the shadow of the 14th in the mirror with practiced ease ~~and ignores the twinge of horror that arises at being able to do so easily~~.

He slowly makes his way to the library, trying to recall the different spells that Master Cross had drilled into his brain over the span of a few months. His Master would be so pissed to know that Allen barely remembers anything. Well. Would be pissed if he was still alive.

Allen shakes his head and tries to mentally list the spells that he _does_ remember. Which are very few and he’s not even sure if the incantations are correct. Master Cross used an entirely different set of incantations, if he even used them at all, than the ones that he taught Allen.

He opens the door to the library and ignores the uncomfortable stare from the librarian and makes his way to the back corner where Lavi is sitting. The Bookman is managing to exude both glee and a very uncomfortable feeling of ready-to-record-everything-weird-about-you.

“Allen!” Lavi says, single eye lighting up.

“Lavi.” Allen returns, wary.

“I heard you got a wand!” Lavi holds out a hand expectantly.

Allen pauses and squints, “How did you even know?” He pulls out his wand. “Wait, nevermind I don’t actually want to know what weird things you guys do to find things out.”

Lavi pouts. “We don’t do weird things.”

“Sure.” Allen allows, doubt evident in his voice.

Lavi’s pout deepens. “Let me see it!”

Allen rolls his eyes and lets Lavi examine his wand carefully. “It looks like a stick.”

Laughing lightly, Allen says, “It basically _is_ a stick. Just with a few extra things.”

Lavi hums and points the wand at Allen. Allen lifts a brow as Lavi moves it dramatically and says, “Abracadabra.”

Nothing happens.

Allen’s shoulders shake silently with suppressed laughter at Lavi’s dismayed look. “That’s not how magic works.”

“A man can hope, Allen.”

“Not in this case at least. Give it back.”

Lavi relinquishes his hold on the wand reluctantly and rests his chin on one hand as Allen sits across from him. “Are you going to practice?”

“Well clearly that’s what you wanted to see so that’s what I’m going to end up doing.”

“I knew I could trust you!” Lavi grins smugly.

“You just want to see magic tricks.” Allen pauses and glances at Lavi, “Did you never go to the Wizarding World with Bookman?”

“We were supposed to,” Lavi says, tilting his head in thought, “but it was decided that there was no direct benefit nor immediate need to me observing them. I’ve read all the records we have on them though. They seem to be mostly useless and disorganized in my opinion.”

Allen nods. “Master only ever took me to their area to get my wand. Everything else he taught me himself. Though he never taught me any of the advanced stuff he knew since he said that I ‘lacked the talent’. I think that was mostly just a bluff though because he didn’t want to teach me anything that I could use to make him pay his debts.”

Lavi laughs, a tiny bit of tension leaking into his voice. Everyone in the Order always seemed to find themselves unsure as to how to react with Allen spoke about Master Cross. But Allen didn’t know what to do if he _didn’t_ ~~and a small part of him didn’t believe that Master Cross could die so easily but he couldn’t just _say_ that~~.

“Anyways,” Allen says, “I only remember a few spells but Komui is getting some more books with the spells I should probably know. There’s a couple books here though with spells that I can try.”

Lavi perks up, excited at the thought of seeing Allen do some magic.

“No one in the Bookman Clan could do magic?” Allen asks, unsure if he’ll get an answer.

A moment of silence as Lavi thinks about what he is allowed to say. “I’ve never seen anyone do magic.” Lavi says carefully.

Allen nods and lets the question go. He looks around the small corner where they are sitting, trying to think about which spell to try first. His eyes land on the dusty table they’re sitting at. “Here,” he says, standing, “stand up.”

Lavi looks at him, questions in his face but he stands obligingly.

Staring intently at the table, Allen lifts his wand and anchors himself, “Scourgify.”

Bubbles appear on the table and a few quick seconds later the table is clean. Allen glances towards Lavi who is staring at the table with an unreadable expression on his face. “…Lavi?”

Lavi turns to Allen, expression quickly morphing into one that promises much pain and exhaustion in Allen’s future. “ _Fascinating_.”

“Um.” Allen manages to get out before Lavi latches onto Allen’s arm.

“Do more!” Lavi says, shaking Allen’s wand arm with excitement. “What other types of spells are there? How much energy does it take to do those kinds of spells? Where does the energy come front? Why do the spells work? Do they resonate with your Innocence? Does magic have an effect on Innocence? Have you tried using your magic on your Innocence? What does -”

“Lavi!” Allen interrupts, trying, and failing, to extract himself from Lavi’s bruising grip.

His friend blinks and stops his questions, finally letting go of Allen’s arm. “Oops?”

Allen sighs. “I don’t actually know much about the theory of anything. I didn’t care to learn and Master didn’t care to teach me. I can see if there are any books that Komui knows of on the topic though?” He adds as an afterthought, “Don’t you have any?”

Lavi shakes his head. “Typically, neither the Noah nor the Order makes use of magic, except in auxiliary uses. We might have had more knowledge at some point? But I haven’t been able to see or read anything that contains anything more than the basics. Cross is actually the first person I’ve encountered involved in the war who could actually use magic in the traditional way and not the twisted way that the Skulls do.”

The grief in Allen wells up again and he pushes it down again. “I’ll try to tell you what I remember.” At Lavi’s brightening expression he hastens to add, “Which is not much.”

“No matter. Any knowledge, even a small amount, is always worth knowing.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all liked this update. Things will definitely start picking up in the next few chapters. 
> 
> /vandrell


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Trying magic, updates, and complaints.

Hours seem to pass as Allen practices a myriad of spells. _Accio, scourgify, ascendio, vanishing_ and _conjuring spells_ , and other spells that Allen vaguely remembers and then remembers clearly when he finds them in a textbook.

Lavi seems to delight in the different spells that Allen fumbles through and causes some property damage with. And Allen is at least glad that he can do a _reparo_ to fix things because otherwise he knows he’ll be banned for sure from the library. 

“ _Oh,_ do that one again.” Lavi lazily directs from where he’s slumped in his chair, eyes sharp.

Allen shoots him a stink eye. “Now you’re just being obnoxious.”

Lavi gasps, placing a hand over his chest. “I would _never_. This is such valuable information that I need to Record.”

“Right. _Valuable information_.” Allen looks up at the flock of birds fluttering, panicked.

With a wave of his wand, Allen Vanishes the birds since he does not desire to draw even _more_ ire from the Librarian. Turning back to Lavi, Allen crosses his arms. “There’s no way that how I, well, _fail to_ , conjure a bunch of birds is in anyway valuable information to the Bookman Clan.”

“You never know. Maybe at some point knowing how to summon birds will be vital to our Recordings.”

Allen lifts a disbelieving eyebrow.

A moment passes and then Lavi cracks a grin.

“Or maybe I just wanted to see you get dive-bombed by angry birds.”

Allen grimaces and tries to pat down his now tangled, disastrous hair that hadn’t survived the dive-bombing.

Lavi snickers. “What other Conjuring spells are there?”

Shrugging, Allen settles into the chair at the table and taps a finger against the table. “I have no idea. These aren’t Transfiguration textbooks and for some reason this is one of the few that I remember? Though I can’t figure out _why_ Master Cross would have even taught me this.”

“…Maybe because he liked making your life difficult?”

Allen hums, acknowledging the point. “Perhaps. Regardless, I think I need to at least perfect _alohomora_. It should be useful.”

Lavi nods and hands Allen the lock he’d had for some reason. Allen places it on the table in front of him and stands. Exhaling, Allen closes his eyes and focuses on the spell. “ _Alohomora_.”

The lock refuses to move.

Allen groans. “I don’t understand why it isn’t working.”

Lavi leans back in his chair and looks at the ceiling thoughtfully. “Magic works on intent right?”

Allen nods. “Like Innocence does.”

Tipping his chair back onto all-fours, Lavi presses his lips together to badly suppress a smirk.

“What.” Allen asks suspiciously.

“I think you’re too righteous, Beansprout.”

“ _What_?” Allen squawks.

Lavi chuckles. “I think you feel _bad_ about sneaking into places and the magic senses that or something. And then the spell doesn’t work.”

Bristling, Allen opens his mouth to protest before pausing. “Ugh. You might be right.”

Lavi snickers. “Of course, I am.”

Frowning, Allen stares at his wand. “But I _have_ picked locks before, so why would it think that I don’t want to open the lock?”

Lavi shrugs. “You still feel bad though when you do it.”

Grimacing, Allen looks away, eyes distant. “I suppose most of the time that I did it, it was because Master Cross dumped his debt on me.”

Lavi cackles. “And hence.” He gestures at the lock.

Allen rolls his eyes.

He focuses back on the lock and concentrates. “ _Alohomora_.”

The lock clicks open.

Allen grins down at Lavi. “Look at that. I don’t feel bad enough about it apparently.”

“ _Nice_.” Lavi pokes at the lock curiously.

Allen watches as Lavi examines the lock from all sides and moves the shackle around. He relocks it and tries to open it again before handing it back to Allen and looking up at Allen expectantly.

Sighing, Allen takes the lock and places it down again. “ _Alohomora_.”

The lock clicks open again and Lavi looks delighted.

Allen rolls his eyes and settles into the chair to wait as Lavi re-examines the lock with a critical eye.

Letting his mind wander as Lavi delights in taking apart the lock, Allen looks between his wand and his left arm. He hadn’t yet activated his Innocence in the presence of his wand or try to use the wand with his left arm. Taking his wand with his left arm, Allen looks at a book on the bookshelf behind Lavi and says, “ _Accio_.”

The book whizzes from its place on the shelf and smacks Lavi in the back of the head.

Lavi yelps and Allen presses his lips together to smother his grin.

“What was that for?!”

“I didn’t mean to!” Allen protests.

“What else did you expect to happen when you tried to summon a book right behind me head?!”

“I don’t know!”

Lavi glares and Allen grins sheepishly. “You might be interested to know that it works even if I use my deactivated Innocence?”

“Oh?” Lavi says lifting an eyebrow. “That’s interesting. Seems to indicate that magic can either conducted through Parasitic Innocence or that magic exists in the environment that is merely harnessed through the wand without being affected by the person.

“Can you activate your arm and see if you can still use spells?”

Allen shrugs and activates Crown Clown. His wand immediately falls out of his grip as his fingers morph and elongate into the claws he has when he activates Crown Clown.

“Ah.”

“Ah indeed. I can’t believe neither of us thought about that.”

Allen shrugs and flexes his fingers. “I guess we forgot that I normally don’t hold things as delicate as wands when I have Crown Clown activated.”

The two stare at each other for a moment before breaking out into laughter.

“Allen?” A voice interrupts. “Ah, Lavi.”

They turn and blink up at Komui who is staring at them with a bemused look on his face.

“Do I dare ask?”

“Well, I think we can reasonably say that Beansprout can fully utilize his ambidexterity to use his wand when Crown Clown is deactivated. Activated on the other hand…” He trails off and looks pointedly at Allen’s elongated fingers.

“Ah.” Komui nods sagely.

“Ah indeed.” Lavi snickers.

“Did you need me for something, Komui?” Allen asks.

“Yes. Headmaster Dumbledore contacted me, and I need to inform you of some things. “

Allen nods and looks back at Lavi. “Seems as if I’ll be freeing myself from your clutches earlier than you expected.”

Lavi grins. “I’m sure you’re meeting won’t be that long. And I’ll be here waiting for you to get back.”

Rolling his eyes, Allen stands.

“Shall we, then?” Komui says, smiling fondly.

Allen smiles in return and follows Komui to his office.

They each take their respective seats and Komui starts.

“First, the Headmaster came back with a time for you to meet with Sirius Black and Harry Potter. Here.” Komui hands over a scrap of paper. “In a few days Finder Renal will accompany you back to the location you initially met with Headmaster Dumbledore.”

Allen takes the paper and examines it. The meeting has been set to occur in 3 days, in the midafternoon, at Grimmauld Place. “Okay.”

“Excellent.” Komui shifts some papers. “He also offered some more information about the number of Akuma and timing of their increase in numbers.”

Allen lifts his eyebrows. “Really?”

Komui snorts. “I had to push him some to get it. He seemed very reluctant to offer this information at this moment.”

“Or ever.” Allen mutters softly.

Continuing as if he hadn’t heard Allen, Komui says, “According to the Headmaster, the increase in Akuma must have started in the early summer. He estimates between mid-June to early-July.”

Allen nods. “He didn’t have a more specific date?”

“Well, I don’t think he’s the best at proper, thorough information gathering.” Komui says wryly.

“I guess I can work with that then. What about the number of Akuma then?”

“He said that the number of Akuma seemed to be exponentially increasing since that point in time.” He adds under his breath, “Though I will be truly surprised if he knows what the word exponentially means.”

Allen snickers.

Clearing his throat, Komui continues. “At this point the Headmaster stated that he is not sure the actual number of Akuma that might be hiding in the forest, but he is attempting to make contact with some centaurs?” Komui frowns, “Some centaurs to try and determine a true number. But I think that sort of reconnaissance will be truly on you, Allen, since none of these people are trained to make this kind of determination. He did, however, offer a rough ‘estimate’ of the number of Akuma that sometimes gather at the edge of the forest.

“He said that there were anywhere from 1 to 6 Akuma that gathered at the edge at a time. He couldn’t determine a pattern of any kind for the number of Akuma that gather, though I’m sure there actually is one as we well know, or what level the Akuma were. So unfortunately, Allen, it seems as if you are being stuck with the primary recon as the Headmaster does not wish for any Finders to observe the Akuma for any longer than a day.”

Allen sighs and rubs at his temples. “Alright.”

Komui grimaces. “Is there anything you think you’ll need from us when you’re there? I’m not sure how often we’ll be able to send any equipment or anything.”

“Let me think about it? I’ll make a list and have it ready for you before I have to leave for the mission.”

Komui nods. “Anything else?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Very well. That’s all I have for you.”

“Thank you.” Allen stands.

“Oh.”

Allen pauses and looks at Komui curiously.

“I believe Link will be seeking you out later today. He has some more paperwork for you or something like that.”

Allen groans and Komui chuckles in response.

“I concur.” He waves his hand at his stacks of paperwork. “But I’d like to avoid antagonizing Central to the best of our ability.”

Allen nods and bids Komui goodbye, making his way back to the library where Lavi is waiting.

“See? That didn’t take too long.” Lavi says, closing the book he was lazily leafing through.

“Wasn’t too long but also didn’t have anything worth much of anything.”

Lavi lifts an inquisitive eyebrow. “Well? Go on.”

Allen sits and drops his head into his arms. “Essentially nobody in the Wizarding World seems to recognize the importance of proper information gathering and organizing. Though I suppose that’s being a little unfair as I’ve only really interacted with Headmaster Dumbledore.”

“Isn’t he a big deal? I’ve seen his name come up in our records a few times.”

Shrugging, Allen continues. “Regardless, the Headmaster didn’t keep paper records of the increase in Akuma seen and liaised with…centaurs to receive information but only in person. So I’d asked the Headmaster to try and find weekly and more specific information about the increases in Akuma numbers but he didn’t really have anything that would actually prove useful.”

Lavi snorts. “If there’s one thing Central doesn’t like, it’s not having paperwork.”

“It surprises me that Leverrier was okay with the lack of information and proper documentation that this mission has.”

Lavi hums.

Allen waits for Lavi to express his thoughts but Lavi waves a hand, keeping what he thinks to himself.

“I also doubt that the Headmaster or any of the centaurs would be able to recognize the usual patterns that Akuma have or the behaviors they have when trying to find innocence.”

“No Finders?”

“For some reason, the Headmaster _politely_ refused to allow Finders onto the grounds.”

Lavi’s eyebrows furrow in confusion. “But why?”

“No idea. But that just means that I’m going to be on reconnaissance duty first. Which will be just what it was like with Master Cross.”

Lavi chuckles, “General Cross really had it so that you could do everything by yourself if you had to.”

Allen sighs and slumps in the chair. “It’s been so nice to be in the Order and not have to do everything myself. I’m going to have to figure out what sort of equipment and sensors that I need to request from the Science Division. I’ve gotten too used to the Finders doing all of the hard work first. Master Cross would be so pissed.”

Shaking his head to clear his melancholy, Allen continues, “But anyways. The Headmaster seems to think that there is a connection to their Lord Voldemort? But the Earl has never worked with people so much as manipulated them. So, I feel like there’s some other reason, likely a bizarre one knowing my luck.” 

“Lord Voldemort is their big bad right?”

Allen nods.

“Hm. Why would the Earl even work with this Lord Voldemort?”

“The British Wizarding World is so small that I can’t imagine that it’s a big enough that the Earl would consider it a worthwhile target.”

Lavi nods slightly in agreement.

“And I can’t imagine that Innocence would have found its way into the school without anyone noticing. Especially since Innocence appears much differently than magic and I would hope that the teachers there would be able to recognize it as abnormal.”

“Can magic be used on Innocence?” Lavi looks at Allen curiously, tapping his fingers on the table.

“Not in its raw form? But I think if the Innocence has chosen an Accommodator magic might be able to affect it. Master Cross had tried some things, but I don’t quite remember what happened.” Allen stares into blank space, remembering all the horrific lights that had been shot towards him in the name of ‘science’.

“Interesting.” Lavi says distantly.

Allen sighs. “I can just tell that this mission is going to be difficult. I can’t believe they want me to teach a class on top of trying to figure out what’s going on. I wonder if they’ll let me request a Science Division member to help take readings since I’m probably not qualified to use any of their devices.”

“I’m sure Johnny would be more than willing to teach you.” Lavi smirks.

Allen slumps over the table. “He’ll be so excited.”

Lavi laughs loudly. “They’re just happy that someone takes such close interest in them. You indulge them too much.”

“I do not!” Allen squawks, straightening. “They deserve the attention! They do so much for the Order and don’t get enough credit for what they do.”

Lavi lifts placating hands. “You don’t have to explain it to me, Allen. I know what they do for the Order.”

Allen shrinks, abashed. “Well. I guess I can endure Johnny’s excitement for a bit.”

Snickering, Lavi stretches. “You haven’t been by the Science Division since the announcement. And you’ve been avoiding Johnny and the rest of the other Science Division members who are still willing to talk to you. So, I’m sure Johnny will be more than excited to see you.”

Allen cringes at the rebuke. “I hate going down there now. Everyone looks at me like I’m going to suddenly change and kill them all.”

“Hmm.” Lavi focuses his gaze on Allen. “It’s not like we exactly know what the Noahfication process is like. So far all we know that _could_ happen. Besides, something’s been happening hasn’t it?”

Allen looks up from where he’s been staring at the table, startled. “How did you know?”

“The first few weeks after we came back from the Noah’s Ark, you flinched whenever you saw your reflection. It stopped after a while but I think that’s more because you got used to it rather than it going away. Am I right?”

“…Yes.” Allen looks at the table and stares at his left hand. “I keep seeing a shadow.”

“A shadow?”

“I first saw it in that room in the Ark. There was a shadowy figure that hung around by my shoulder in the mirror. And now, every time I see my reflection it’s there.”

“No face?”

Allen shakes his head then looks up suddenly as a thought comes to him. “You’re going to record this aren’t you?”

Lavi purses his lips. “Yes.”

Allen sighs, this wasn’t unexpected, but it still was something that he was unhappy about. “Okay.”

Clearing his throat, Lavi props his head on his hand. “Well then, what are you planning on doing about the mission since it seems like it’ll be a mess?”

“I’ll just have to go there and see what happens.” Allen pushes his reservations about Lavi recording what he’d just said away and says, “I just hope that none of the students are problematic.”

Lavi snorts. “Since you said that they definitely will be. Although, seeing as your role model for a teacher is General Cross I hope that _you’re_ not the one who is troublesome.”

“Hey!” Allen complains. “I would think that having Master Cross would show me what _not_ to do.”

“Just don’t traumatize any of the kids, Allen.” Lavi snickers.

“I would _never_.”

“Whatever you want to believe, Beansprout.”

Allen sighs at the nickname. “I’ve never taught anyone anything though, so I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

“Didn’t you receive a lesson plan?”

“I adjusted it a little bit, but I have no idea what class is going to be like. I’ve never been to a proper school anyway and I can’t believe that they would even let me _teach_. I can’t believe _Central_ is letting me do this.”

Lavi snorts. “They clearly don’t care much about the Wizarding World.”

Allen narrows his eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re insulting me or them.”

Lavi lifts an eyebrow and simply smiles. “Besides, I’m sure Central will be keeping a _very_ close eye on you. And I bet that there’s a reason they’re letting you deal with this rather than just doing something themselves about the situation. They don’t let you even go to the bathroom without Inspector Link.”

Allen grimaces. “I’m surprised Link has been letting me wander around myself the past few days.”

“Must be doing something important.”

“Like more paperwork?”

Firm footsteps echo behind Allen and he turns, unsure as to who is visiting this spot where usually only the exorcists hang out. Which means that most everyone in the Order avoids them like the plague.

“Walker.” Link says as he draws near, the aforementioned paperwork in hand.

Allen exchanges a glance with Lavi, despairing at the fact that just mentioning paperwork had brought Link to them with said paperwork in hand; even though Komui had warned him earlier.

Link sets the stack of papers down and holds out a pen.

Groaning internally, Allen takes it and readies himself for at least an hour of tedium.

“I think that’s my cue to skedaddle.” Lavi says, standing and chair rattling as it’s pushed back.

Allen shoots Lavi a betrayed glare as the exorcist flees the library, leaving Allen to his doom. He’d never thought he’d come to dread something as much as Master Cross’s debt but Link’s paperwork is slowly creeping its way closer to the top of the list. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took a full month! IRL said nOPE and this took much longer than I'd wanted it to be. I'm not sure about the next chapter because while I have a semi-outline I have no idea what's gonna happen in terms of me having time since my school is starting soon. 
> 
> I continue to hate editing so please let me know if there's anything incoherent or a typo!
> 
> /vandrell


	5. Chapter 5

“The limitations that Central has devised are outlined in this first document.” Link places a page in front of Allen and Allen resists the urge to just take the page and crumple it up and eat it.

Sometimes he wishes that he could revert back to being Red. And then he remembers the pain and agony that he endured as Red and remembers that he much prefers being Allen no matter how hard it is at times.

Link clears his throat and Allen shakes himself out of his musings. He scans the page.

Frowning he looks up at Link, “I’m not allowed to use Crown Clown?” He scoffs, “I think that rather defeats the purpose of being there to _get rid_ of the Akuma.” 

Link tsks and points at a small line. “Central has asked you to not use your Innocence within the boundaries of the school’s wards. They would like to limit unneeded exposure, particularly to children.”

Allen lifts an eyebrow and keeps his thoughts to himself. He signs the line and waits for the next form that Link places in front of him.

Page after page after page. It never seems to stop. And Allen feels more and more disgruntled the further into the stack of paperwork they get. Three-quarters of all the paperwork seems to be either repeats of things he’d already had to sign or stupid, miscellaneous things that didn’t seem like they needed a 5-page document. But the last quarter provided what would likely be the most restricted mission guidelines he’d ever seen. Which is simultaneously not unexpected but also aggravating. He’d hoped that he’d proven himself enough before but evidently not.

Mostly, it seems as if Allen won’t be _allowed_ to use anything or talk to _anyone_ without prior assent from Central. Which…will simply not be feasible for a mission of this type when most, if not all, of the reconnaissance has been left for him to complete.

Though with all the rules that Central has been piling on him, perhaps Allen will _conveniently_ forget some when needed. He’s sure that the golem that they’re watching him with will be susceptible to Tim’s _something_.

Allen lets out a sigh and returns to the stack.

The next page details a long list of what he is to do if he feels the 14th start to emerge. Allen looks the list over and notes that he’s to report each and every twinge that could possible be due to the 14th. All of which seems ridiculous given that he doesn’t even do that now, so how would Central be able to tell whether a twinge is due to him having used Crown Clown excessively or due to the 14th slowly taking over his body.

Nevertheless, he signs it. What other choice does he have?

Next page.

And the next.

And another.

“Last one.”

Allen let out a mental cheer. He never wanted to see another sheet of paper again. Which he knew would be extraordinarily impossible what with the Order’s, or rather Central’s, obsession with bureaucracy.

(Sometimes he wonders why he ever followed Master Cross’s orders to come to the Order.)

Komui would probably be overjoyed if Allen told him there was no more paperwork though. And Allen’s sure that everyone in the European Branch would be ecstatic to be able to find somewhere to finally _sit_ without feeling as if they just ruined a mission or experiment.

“Excellent. Thank you, Walker.” Link gathered the papers and stepped back from the table.

Allen looked up when Link didn’t leave.

“Inspector Leverrier will be watching you closely.” Link says, almost in a whisper, before bowing shortly and walking away.

Allen blinked at the empty spot where Link had been standing. That was…. _odd_. But nothing he hadn’t known already. Master Cross’s _disappearance_ had already let him know that he couldn’t trust anyone now. No matter how much he wanted to.

(It was just him and Tim again. ~~And he never should’ve expected differently.~~ )

“Allen~!”

Allen startles and jerks back. “Lavi?”

“All done?”

“…Yes?”

“Why do you sound so unsure?”

“Do you have a sixth sense?”

“What?”

“Or were you just watching and waiting for Link to leave?”

Lavi hums and smiles brightly, taking his former seat. “Not telling.”

Allen rolls his eyes. “What do you want then?”

“I can’t check on you? My dear, beloved, troublesome friend?”

Allen stares.

Lavi’s bright eye meets Allen’s gaze and holds it.

They start snickering and Allen buries his face in his hands, snuffling his laughter.

“Thank you.”

“Hm?” Lavi says, laughter quicky dying away as he focuses his stare, his Bookman stare, on Allen.

“Nothing. I’m just tired.”

“Tired? Does that make the Fourteenth worse?”

Allen frowns. “I don’t know.”

Lavi lifts a brow.

“It comes and goes. I don’t know what dictates it.”

“Random?”

“As far as I can tell.”

Cocking his head to the side in thought, Lavi hums before shrugging. “What did Two-Spot make you sign?”

“Duplicates.” Allen sighs. “And that I’m not allowed to use Crown Clown.”

Lavi jerks, “ _What_?”

Allen nods. “Well, I’m not supposed to use it within the school’s wards.”

“Why?”

“’ _To reduce exposure_ ’ or something.”

“That sounds…unnecessary.”

Allen frowns. “I had thought that most of the Wizarding World was aware of Akuma but I have a feeling that it’s only certain people.”

“And _that_ sounds like a mess. Especially if Central is expecting you to be able to do this whole mission on your own without any backup or help for containment.” 

“We tell people about Akuma when we go on _normal_ missions, so I don’t understand why Central wants me to be so…covert.”

“Who knows,” Lavi yawns, “Central has been very odd in their actions these past few months.”

“Oh?”

Lavi straightens and gives Allen a critical look. “I can’t say anything more than that.”

Allen scratches his head in acceptance, and they fall silent. Allen had hoped that Lavi might let something slip so he’d know what to expect but he should’ve known that when it came to Record Keeping, Lavi had his mouth firmly shut.

“Lavi.” A stern voice broke the silence.

Allen turns and sees Bookman standing between a couple bookshelves, arms folded in front of him, expression blank. Cringing internally, Allen watches as Lavi stands and waves him goodbye brightly before bouncing away to join Bookman. The pair walk away in silence and Allen turns back to the table and stares at the grain of wood.

After Allen had met with Master Cross, he’d felt as if Bookman had grown even more detached, seemingly in preparation for something. And Allen was _worried_. He knew that the Bookman clan knew a lot and might even know what was coming.

All Allen wanted was to not kill his friends. And when Master Cross had looked him in the eyes and told him he’d kill someone he’d cared for, Allen knew that he couldn’t let that happen. No matter what.

**XXX**

“Allen.” Reever’s voice echoes from behind a stack of files.

Allen blinks. “How’d you even see me?”

Reever laughs softly as he stands and walks around his desk. “Trade secret. I have to have a leg up on the rest of you exorcists. Did you figure out what you needed from us?”

Allen sighs as he sits on the chair that Reever ushers him to. Reever leans against his desk and lifts an eyebrow in question.

“I have a few ideas, but I’m not sure what exactly I might encounter and I doubt that I’ll be able to bring anything later. So, I was hoping to ask if you’ve got any suggestions…”

“What do you have in mind?”

“First, talismans. I’m not sure if I’ll need to set up some monitoring equipment in the Forest or if I’ll need to do any observation. I don’t know what types of talismans you have now? I haven’t worked with Finders in the field in a while.”

Reever motions for Allen to continue, making a note on a piece of a paper and pencil that he’s seemingly materialized.

“And then I’m not sure what you have in terms of detecting Akuma presence? I was hoping to find something that I can set up and leave so that I can figure out how many Akuma are gathering. And maybe I can get lucky and overhear why they’re gathering at the school too.

“Otherwise I think I might be able to devise anything that I might need if I’ve got the materials. Master Cross used to make me make some of the equipment we needed. Not that we did much recon.”

Reever’s lips twitch.

Allen shakes himself out of his rapidly spiraling musing and looks up at Reever. “What do you think?”

After writing down one more thing, Reever put the pencil and paper down on the desk besides him and crosses his arms, tapping a finger in thought.

“We have the standard talismans you can use as shields and to protect yourself from Akuma outside of you. We’ve also been experimenting with a talisman that we can trigger manually or automatically to trap an Akuma inside the shield. The manual trigger has been much easier to figure out and most of the kinks have been figured out. That should definitely be fixed by the time you go on your mission. The automatic trigger has been less easy. It only triggers correctly half the time and we can’t isolate what sort of trigger we can use to have it trigger all the time. Especially since we don’t exactly have any Akuma to try it out on.

“But the fact that it doesn’t trigger for the signature we’ve been using for our detection equipment has made us have to start reanalyzing the algorithms we’re using for that equipment.” Reever sighs and runs a hand through his hair. “But anyways, we can definitely give you shields if you know what kind you want.”

Allen nods. “I can test out the manual talismans if you need?”

Reever’s eyes widen in gratitude. “…would you mind taking the latest version of the automatic talisman one too?”

“As long as it doesn’t try to kill me I can try and test it out.”

Humming to himself softly, Reever nods, “I’ll make sure all the safety features are enabled.”

“…” Allen lives in fear of the day that the Science Division decides to just take the War into their own hands and unleash their inventions on the Akuma.

“For our detectors, we’ve been trying to recalibrate them to be more accurate since apparently they don’t work quite as well as we thought but I can get you some of the old ones with the original algorithm. That way you know they at least work most of the time. We’ve got some cameras too that you could try to set up? Since you know where they gather and they don’t seem to be using their shells to hide themselves.”

Allen nods, “My brief indicated that there may be interference between magic and technology…?”

Reever frowns. “General Cross would use magic, would he not?”

“Yes.”

“I don’t remember General Cross ever having any trouble with anything shorting out when he was actually returning to the Order after missions. Give me a few days to see if I can find anything in our records and I’ll get you something that works.” He pauses, “You didn’t have any trouble with Timcanpy or the Central Golem when you went on your mission, did you?”

Allen shakes his head and glances at Tim, who’s been sitting on the arm of his chair. “Did you notice anything, Tim?”

Timcanpy shakes itself back and forth.

Allen glances back up at Reever who now has a glint in his eyes that Allen has learned to attribute with alarms and ‘ _DANGER_ ’. “Um?”

“How would you feel about us… _borrowing_ Tim for a day?”

“ _Um_.”

“Don’t worry. We’d return Tim without any permanent damage.”

“Why don’t we wait and see if you can find anything in your records first?” Allen rushes out, panic making him stumble over his words.

Reever deflates. “I suppose that should be the first step.”

Allen lets out a small sigh of relief. “So we’ll have to wait on the cameras and detectors then?”

“Probably. Though I can’t imagine that the magic interferes too badly with our equipment since we’ve been using them close to magical communities for decades now. Perhaps it has to do with the density of magical residue. You’re going back to their Headquarters soon, right?”

“In a few days, yes.”

“I might have you take a few pieces when you go. I’d think that there are similar levels of wards there and at that school so we can do a test run and see if the detectors can function. What sort of range do you think you’ll need on your detectors?”

“As large as possible? From what I can tell the school is rather large, and the forest larger.”

Reever nods and makes a note. “I’ll see what I can dig up. I think that they took some of the detectors with a bigger range to try and fix the algorithm since the Finders don’t generally use those ones as much.

“Then for miscellaneous tools, what sort of things do you think you’ll need?”

“A general tool kit for sure. I think I lost mine on my journey here,” Allen adds under his breath, “or Master Cross took it when he abandoned me.”

A nod and a note.

“And then any of the basic materials to make traps or detection equipment. I don’t think I’ll need much, but I might have to repair some of the equipment and I’d like to be prepared in case something _does_ happen and I can’t get any equipment from here. Besides,” Allen taps his left eye, “I should be able to notice anything that comes _too_ close to the castle.”

“I’ll throw a kit together for you and have you come take a look at it to see if I missed anything or if there’s anything you don’t think you’ll need.”

Allen smiles.

“We haven’t had to equip anyone for such a long mission without backup in a while.” Reever pauses and purses his lips, “Hopefully it won’t take you the full year. We do need you back here and I don’t know what the Science Division will do without their mascot.”

That startles a laugh out of Allen. He says wryly, “I rather think a lot of people will be happy to see me gone.”

Reever waves a dismissive hand. “You’re more well-liked than you think, Allen. Don’t underestimate your importance here. Both as an exorcist _and_ a person. The Order hadn’t ever been this bright and lively before you arrived.”

Allen feels his face heat and he mumbles his thanks.

Laughing, Reever shoos Allen out of his office. “I’ll get those things for you together and let you know when I’m ready. If there’s anything you forgot let me know.”

Allen shuts the door and cringes as Reever is saying, “And for heaven’s sake, go say hi to Johnny!”

It wasn’t Allen’s fault that he wasn’t sure who would want to see him and stay friends or who would want to ignore him or who would want him dead. Though judging by the number of notes taped to his door asking for him to come down to the Science Division, Allen should have known that Johnny would fall in that first category.

Allen steps carefully between the piles of equipment, broken and sparking, and files that litter the Science Division in what he hopes is organized chaos.

“Johnny?” He calls as he nears Johnny’s station.

“Allen?” A head pokes out behind a stack of paper. “Allen!”

Johnny jolts away from his station and lunges forward to envelop Allen in a hug. Allen laughs nervously as he pats at Johnny’s arms.

“I thought you would never come back down here!” Johnny scolds as he pushes back from Allen.

Allen pastes a smile on his face and says, “I wasn’t sure–”

“How dare you assume what we feel!” Johnny says, frowning. “We’re friends. And something like _that_ wouldn’t change that since you didn’t _want_ that to happen.”

Allen smiles weakly. If only the rest of the Order could have the same view as Johnny. “Thank you.”

Johnny beams. He pulls Allen forward. “Now sit. And tell me what this mission you’re going on is about.”

**XXX**

Allen lurches out of bed with a startled gasp, right hand clenched around his left wrist in a death grasp. Panicked breaths. A rapidly beating heart. Allen distantly notes that he’s probably hyperventilating.

He furrows his brows as he tries to grasp whatever had terrified him in a way that he hadn’t been scared since Mana died and he was left alone at the Circus.

It slips away from him like water through his fingers. Something dark. Menacing. And chilling.

Nothing good.

Allen fights to get his breath back under control and inhales and exhales deeply. He consciously relaxes his muscles and pries his right hand off his left wrist.

His Innocence feels…odd. Out-of-place. Like its not part of him. Even though he hasn’t know a moment without it.

A lie. It feels worse than that time it’d been reduced to dust by Tyki. At least then he could _feel_ Crown Clown and knew it was his. Now it feels as if Crown Clown wants nothing to do with him.

It _hurts_.

Crown Clown has been the only thing that has stayed with him. And now it doesn’t want him.

Allen lets out a broken sob.

He sits in silence for seconds? Minutes? Hours? He doesn’t know. But slowly, the pain in his arm, in his head, in his _heart_ , fades to a dull throb. But it was the usual throb that had first appeared when he looked in that mirror and saw a shadow where he only should’ve seen himself. A throb that had only grown, slowly and almost unnoticeably, since Master Cross had laid his knowledge about he 14th at Allen’s feet and walked away.

Once again rinsing his hands of the problem.

(Deep inside, Allen knew that Master Cross didn’t _want_ ~~he hoped~~ to leave him. But Master Cross still left. Didn’t use any of their codes so that Allen knew what the long game was. And then Master Cross left. Permanently.

And Allen was left alone in a world that hated him where he was going to kill all of his friends.)

Allen turns his left hand over and stares at the pulsing innocence in the back of his hand. It glows a faint green, illuminating Allen’s ratty blanket.

Sighing, Allen pushes back his blanket and swings his feet off the bed and leans forward, cradling his head in his hands. The dull headache at the back of his head has definitely gotten worse. But there was no one to tell. No one to get help from. He couldn’t trust anyone. That was the last piece of advice that Master Cross had left him, in unsaid words and pointed looks.

Who knows what Central really wanted with the 14th. And Allen didn’t trust them for one second, vaguely remembering drunk ramblings in the dead of night by Master Cross.

He had no idea why they were trying to send him off for such a long period of time. No idea other than they were devising something to get rid of the Noah. Or _use_ him.

Allen gasps sharply as pain lances through his head.

 _Enough_ , he wants to tell the 14th. _Just tell me what you want and leave me alone_.

But that would be too easy. And Allen’s never been able to do things the easy way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I cranked out about 2/3 of this chapter in an hour and then I'm immediately dumping it here so please let me know if there are any typos/incoherencies. Let me know what you think! This one is kind of a filler (+ angst because I cannot resist) but next chapter we'll be meeting Sirius and Harry! 
> 
> /[vandrell](https://vandrell.tumblr.com/)

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know if there are any glaring incoherencies or typos as I despise editing with a passion. You can find me on tumblr as [vandrell](https://vandrell.tumblr.com/), I'm always happy to chat about dgm and any of my other WIPs!
> 
> /vandrell


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